


No Buddies

by pixeldotgamer



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Flux Buddies (Yogscast), Lalna Gets Fluxed, Nano Not So Much, No Buddies AU, Time Travel, [TECHNICALLY??], [i say canon divergence and by that i mean what's canon? never heard of her], [i'll update tags as things go on!], [technically?], dimension hopping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-06 12:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18850789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixeldotgamer/pseuds/pixeldotgamer
Summary: No Buddies AU: What is Five and Lalnable had finished the Time Gate and got to pull off whatever their original plan was? This AU takes place in a setting where Lalnable was able to go back and prevent Nano from ever getting flux in the first place. From there things quickly start to change and diverge, creating a completely different timeline/universe.





	1. Showtime

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe the first thing im ever posting in terms of yogs content is my first ever attempt at a fanfic, hot damn. 
> 
> BUT YEAH this is my first attempt at any sort of fic or story like this and i promise it'll be weird but there may also be a lot of fun ideas in this AU so we'll see how this goes
> 
> btw! im over on tumblr as @pixel-dot-gamer (.w.)/ i mostly draw and go off about video games

Alone in a room in a long forgotten underground laboratory, there was a man. He was busy fiddling with one of many ominous glowing parts littered around the room, leaning away as sparks shot into is face. He grimaced and stood up, kicking the piece away before he paced over to another to restart the process again. Looming over him was a large machine, odd and complex with a similar glow that shifted through various colors. Besides this glow the room was dark.

That is until the door opened.

The man was soon joined by his apprentice, or rather minion, whose purple face could be recognized from a mile away.

“Ah, Five.” The man, a doctor, turned away from his work. “Did you bring me the tool I asked for?”

“Sure.” The minion, Five, said nonchalantly.

She tossed him the tool and walked up to the machine, taking the whole thing in. 

“So, now that we’re almost done-” Five turned to face her boss as he picked up the machinery he was working on with a huff. “-are you actually going to tell me the plan?”

He ignored her question in favor of pushing the hunk of machinery into its proper place. Stepping back and taking a deep breath, he pushed his goggles up and brushed messy blond strands of hair out of his face. Five sat on one of many abandoned hunks of metal and pouted.

“Is it even close to being done? You keep saying it’s almost ready and yet here we still are! In our boring, shitty present.” She whined, watching her boss continue to tweak and fiddle with various panels. 

He leaned down to scoop up a screwdriver, “Well, Five, perhaps I’d have a different answer for you if you actually helped.”

“It’s not my fault I can’t help! You’re the one who never explains anything!” She snapped, crossing her arms. “Besides, if you’re locked up in here working on the Time Gate who’s gonna stop the moronic duo from breaking in here?” 

“I assume that’s what the wolves and vampires were for.” He mused quietly as he tightened a panel into place.

Five rolled her eyes as more metal and panels and things were put in place. Eventually, he stepped away from his work with a grin and joined Five on her seat of scrap metal.

“I think it’s ready.” He said, poorly containing the excitement in his voice.

“Really? Are you sure? You’re not joking this time?” She questioned, smiling widely.

“Yes! It’s finally time to get our little show on the road.” He said gleefully. “Finally! It’s been ages!”

He stood up and rolled the sleeves of his dirty lab coat up, grinning widely as he clapped his hands together.

“Alright! It’s time to brief you on our mission.”

Five leaned forward, joining in her Boss’s excitement. He turned and pointed to her with a dramatic flare.

“You’re staying here!” He yelled with the type of ignorant joy that suggested he didn’t just crush her dreams.

“Wha...What?” She stammered, completely taken back. “I’m not even going?”

He nodded confidently and continued, starting to pace as he talked, “You see Five, I’ve been thinking about this time travel thing a lot. If we went back and killed Lalna or Nano, then we wouldn’t be here! Or at the very least, you wouldn’t, I’d still be around but nowhere near this powerful. If this works the way I thought it would then killing those morons or even changing anything at all will just result in our own demise.”

Five’s shoulders sagged and she kicked her feet pitifully, “Are we giving up then?”

He smiled and pointed to her again.

“Not at all my dear! You see after I thought of that I had a similar fear... ‘Well, what now?’ I thought. If going back and killing the fool or that stupid clone just resulted in our own deaths then what was the point? So, I started to consider another option, a different way this could work out.”

He paused his pacing for a moment and brought a hand up to his chin as if he were thinking.

“What if...going back and changing things didn’t necessarily impact us? At least, this version of us?”

“What are you getting at?” Five asked, annoyed.

“What if going back and changing something didn’t change our past but rather created a new one?” He turned to her and threw his hands up, clearly entertained by the idea. “What if it...it created a new past, a new timeline, where what we did happened and impacted things...except we’d still be around to see it happen!”

Five stared at him blankly as he stood with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Are you...talking about like...alternate universes?” She asked with her face scrunched up in disbelief.

“EXACTLY!” He cried out in erratic joy, the sound echoing off the walls. “Exactly Five! Why don’t we just create a world where the clone and Nano don’t become friends? Perhaps never even meet? Then, in that world, there would be no defense! No ridiculous ‘Flux Buddies’ to get in our way!”

Five considered the idea for a moment before her face broke out into a similar wild smile. She got up from her makeshift seat and grabbed his hands, shaking them wildly.

“Are you saying you found a way for us to kill these nerds without them even being able to stop us!?” She babbled with absolute delight.

His smile dropped as he thought for a moment, “Well, can we really say we’re killing them when it’s some alternate version of them? Could we really be satisfied seeing their dying faces contorted in fear knowing that they aren’t in fact the two we’ve grown to hate?”

The two stared at each other in silence before erupting into a fit of insane laughter. The sound echoed through the room until the two calmed themselves enough to continue their plotting.

“This is great!” Five said breathlessly, traces of laughter still in her voice.

She paused, dropping his hands and eyed him.

“Wait, so why can’t I go?”

He smiled slightly and ruffled the shorter ones hair, “I need you here, dear minion, to...Well how did you say it? ‘Stop the moronic duo from breaking in here,’ I believe. Basically, I want you here to run things and make sure that things run smoothly. I just need to go back to the right time and make sure I change what I need to.”

Five pushed his hand away, “Speaking of that, what _are_ you changing?”

He chuckled, turning away from her to face the large gate.

“Well, I was thinking about those two..’Flux Buddies’ and I had to ask myself what would happen if they weren't fluxed? What if that oh so tragic accident hadn’t happened, leaving poor Nano all fluxed and Lalna all guilty? I don’t think they’d be as close as they are now, perhaps they wouldn’t even stick together.” He mused.

Five followed his gaze and watched as the gate shifted colors gently.

Red. Purple. Green. Purple. Blue. Purple.

“Alright.” She stated. “Let’s turn this thing on.”

He showed her the various panels and devices and buttons that worked the gate, although Five zoned out somewhere after “This is what you hit to start the machine.”

“And this, Five, is the date I’ll be jumping back to. When Nano first met up with the clone.” He pointed to the line of text on screen.

“How’d you find that out?” Five wondered out loud as she squinted at the jumble of text.

“You, actually.” He explained. “I was able to use the memories you have of Nano’s to find the exact time she first met up with that failure.”

Five glared at him from over her shoulder, “Did you steal more of my blood again?”

He opened his mouth to answer but a loud, blaring alarm cut him off. Five jumped slightly while he just gritted his teeth.

“Ugh, I hate that noise.” He mumbled under his breath as he clicked on a blinking red icon.

The screen lit up read as various warnings filled the screen. He brushed the warnings away with a flick of the wrist and went back to setting up the Time Gate.

“Um…” Five trailed off as the alarm continued to go off in the background. “Isn’t that bad?”

“It’s probably just those idiots trying to break in. Figures, I turn the thing on for a single test and they find us in a heartbeat. Stupid, stupid…” He typed faster now, flicking various switches in the process. “Guess we have to speed this up.”

He slammed his hand down on a button Five recognized as the gate’s start button. The machine began to spark to life, a twisting vortex starting to form in the middle. He barked out a quick laugh and run to stand in front of it, merely steps from it’s swirling center. Now that it was on the glow of the gate only intensified, flashing more vibrantly than before. The vortex began to pull at objects in the room, causing wires and light materials so slide their way towards it. His lab coat and hair floated upwards towards the gate and he grinned wildly. The gate’s glow illuminated his face and only added more to the look of absolute, deranged delight on his face as he stared up at his creation.

“It’s working!” He cried out, throwing his hands up in the air. “IT’S WORKING!”

Five gripped the terminal as the gate’s pull increased, with objects starting to fly through the gate. She ducked as a hunk of metal flew over her head. The alarm continued to blare as the door behind them burst open.

“LALNABLE!” A voice screamed, desperate to be heard.

The doctor turned to see a familiar failure in the doorway, his face a look of pure shock. Lalna slid to a stop as soon as he saw the Time Gate, gripping the door frame to stop himself from being pulled into the room. The newcomers own blond hair and lab coat were tugged gently towards the portal as the two men stared each other down.

“Well, I suppose that’s my cue!” Lalnable called out gleefully, turning back to the portal.

And with that he jumped into the gate, disappearing.


	2. Let’s Pull A Back To The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalnable pulls a full on Back To The Future and changes the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should probably note that i have no idea how consistent updates will be ;w;'' i have a lot of stuff planned out and im some what ahead writing wise but i also re do and edit everything to hell and back before posting cause im big nervous so shrug
> 
> on a slightly better note i'll probably be starting another yogs fic soon! it's based around a good ol' sibling au where lalna and lalnable are siblings and follows its own little plot

Lalnable had predicted jumping through the Time Gate would be an uncomfortable experience, but it had definitely exceeded his expectations. When he finally came out the other end and hit the ground he was overwhelmed with the urge to puke. He rolled over and gagged as the motion sickness took its course. He laughed as he pushed himself up to stand, his vision swirling and legs shaking.

“Perfect.” He breathed with a smile before collapsing back onto the ground.

\- - - - -

After he landed in the past it didn’t actually take Lalnable long to figure out where he was. The gate had worked perfectly in terms of placing him at the right time, however the location wasn’t as ideal. He was further away from Lalna’s castle then he would have hoped, making for an extended travel time. By the time he got there he had missed Nano’s original arrival, as she had already fallen from the sky when he got there. However, there was still plenty of time for him to prepare for the next couple of days.

While he watched the two he found himself keeping a closer eye on Lalna rather than Nano. He watched as Lalna goofed off during the day but after Nano retired for the night he would often run off and do work on his own. On one particular night he found Lalna outside the containment area for the castles currently small flux problem, writing things down and observing the flux with a worried expression. It was getting worse, Lalnable noted. Another night, just before Nano’s first flux incident, he found Lalna working on a new machine which he soon recognized as a portal gun. After finding the gun it was ridiculously easy to steal it, completely derailing whatever Lalna originally had in mind. Lalna spent most of the next day trying to find where he left his portal gun while Nano simply worked on their automatic mining project. No portal gun meant no portals, which meant no Lalna chasing Nano around and terrorizing her with them. This ultimately meant no Nano falling into the flux containment area, so therefore no fluxed Nano.

But sadly, this was only the first close call. There was still the second incident to prevent and sadly it wouldn’t be as easy. In a few days some moron was going to spawn Naga’s into the world that would overrun the castle, leading to Nano being knocked straight into the flux containment area. Lalnable sat on the roof of one of the castles towers, portal gun in his lap.

“Luckily for her...” he mused. “I’m here to save her.”

\- - - - -

Nano was trying to turn on a generator for Lalna so they could get their new quarry running and call it a night, but she was having some issues. She kept flipping the start switch on and off but all she was getting was the pained moan of the gears. Outside it was starting to rain, alluding to the storm to come. She just wanted to get the work done so she could sleep through the storm. Suddenly, the bracelet on her arm lit up. She fiddled with the small screen, trying to make Lalna’s homemade device actually work. Eventually, Lalna’s voice came through.

“-swer answer answer- FINALLY! We have a problem!” 

She sighed and prepared for the worst, grabbing her gear and slipping her jetpack on. If anything could be said about staying with Lalna it would be that things never stayed calm for long.

“Do you see that on your screen too?” He asked nervously, running into the room soaking wet.

Nano followed Lalna outside as he continued out the other side of the room into the courtyard, shuddering slightly as the wind and rain hit her. An alert came up, not so subtly telling her there was a problem nearby.

“Yeah, I just got it.” She replied. “What’s up?”

Lalna just shook his head, turning on his jetpack to fly up to get a better look. 

“Do you think someone's trying to break in?” She asked as Lalna flew over her

“I don’t know but- OH MY GOD!?” Lalna started to answer her but cut himself off to scream.

“What? What is it?” Nano flew up and joined Lalna. 

“Oh, for fuck sakes.” She groaned.

Swarming outside the castle walls was a huge pack of Naga’s, easily 10 of them bashing into the walls. Lalna went down to check things out, mumbling about if they could even deal with this issue or not. Nano decided jumping into a pit of 10 giant snake monsters was a bad idea and went to check the rest of the castle. Everything seemed fine as she checked the each corner tower and the area around them, only noting the vague state of disrepair the castle was in.  She paused her search as she landed on top of her own tower, using it as a vantage point to look over the area. In the distance she saw Lalna dodging the huge swarm of Naga’s, chirping over the radio about how ‘he was sure he dealt with the issue’. Nano rolled her eyes as she tried to see into the distance. Sadly, between the poor weather and the sun setting quickly it was getting harder and harder to spot anything.

“Lalna, from what I can tell everything seems fine in here. It looks like most of it is-” Nano started to speak into the radio, trying to talk over Lalna’s own panicked rambling but a sound cut her off.

Hissing, to be specific. 

Nano froze as she turned her head to the right, towards the flux containment area, and gasped at the Naga curled around the tower right beside it. Lalna spoke up over the radio.

“Was that...what I thought it was?” He asked quietly.

“There’s a Naga next to the flux.” Nano whispered back in quiet horror.

Nano hovered around the tower, eyeing the Naga carefully as it started to stir and move. She landed on a ledge across from both the flux and the Naga, watching as Lalna flew up.

“Oh, this is quite bad. Yeah, okay, this is a problem.” Lalna yelled out to her over the rain. “We need to get it out of here!”

“How!? We can’t get near it!” Nano yelled back, watching the Naga uncurl and start to move.

The Naga swung its tail and cracked the glass of the containment area and the duo flinched at the sound, watching as part of the glass completely shattered. Nano bit her lip and pulled out her knife.

“Okay, okay, I’m going to go in there and try and distract it. You gotta help me get its attention.” Nano called over to Lalna who was watching the scene unfold in silence.

“Wait-!” Lalna started to call out to her but a thundering boom cut him off.

The lightning in the distance helped illuminate the scene, and also helped to further irritate the Naga. It hissed loudly and started to thrash around, different parts of it slamming into the glass sphere. The small hole in the glass started to grow as pieces of glass fell down and smashed on the ground. Nano cursed and started her jetpack again, preparing to rush the Naga. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lalna uncover his ears and grimace. He seemed to notice what she was doing but Nano ignored him in favor of actually getting something done. Nano tried to position herself so she could swipe at the Naga but its wild movements made it hard to get close without getting close lined by its tail. Lalna, meanwhile, was trying to get its attention from the front, waving his arms around to make it look his way. Surprisingly, it worked. The Naga focused on Lalna, its bright green eyes staring him down. Nano carefully worked her way closer to the Naga, keeping an eye on its head as it eyed Lalna. She found it hard to land safely on the tower, between the shards of glass and rain landing silently wouldn’t be easy. Nano carefully landed on the ledge of the tower, balancing awkwardly before stepping down. From where she was the Naga was even larger, its tail swaying slowly in front of her. She took a moment to look at Lalna and saw how the scientist was focused intensely on the sphere behind her rather then the creature in front of him. Lalna looked at her and they made eye contact. He smiled nervously, glancing between her and the Naga. She tried to look sure and nodded, attempting to project some form of certainty. She turned back to the task at hand and raised he knife, taking in a deep breath before plunging it down into the Naga’s tail.

As soon as the blade made contact another thundering boom sounded out. Everything was illuminated and Nano became painfully aware of the two silted eyes staring at her. The Naga let out a gut churning screech as it went crazy, thrashing with a whole new level of power. Nano ducked as its tail swung over her head, scampering towards the edge of the tower to jump off. Before she could get away she had to throw herself to the ground to avoid the tail on its way back. She could hear Lalna yelling but all other sounds drowned out his words. 

“I’m okay!” Nano called out, hoping it would reach him.

She pushed herself up and rushed to the edge of the tower. However, she slid to a stop when she saw the flux. Inside its cracked orb the flux sparked and waved, becoming more active than she’s ever seen. The glow of it left everything nearby gently lit with purple light. Nano shook her head and prepared to jump down but as she got one foot off the edge she felt something slam into her back. She gasped as the pain knocked the breath out of her, a shock going straight up her spine. Next thing she knew she was off the ground and in the air, aimlessly flung by the Naga. She desperately tried to grasp words, grasp something, do anything to stop the pain and the motion and the noise-   
  
Faintly, she heard Lalna scream her name.

She opened her eyes, she hadn’t noticed she closed them, and was overwhelmed by the bright purple in her field of vision. As she spun in the air Nano realized that she was heading straight towards the flux, and even if she hit the glass of the containment sphere chances are she was going to go straight through. Finding her voice, she called out.

“Lalna! Do something!” 

She knew he couldn’t. Nano braced herself and closed her eyes, waiting for the fresh pain of smashing into glass. Suddenly, however, she felt herself pulled to a stop. Someone was grabbing her hand. Her eyes snapped open and she took in her surroundings. Nano was currently halfway through the hole in the flux’s containment area, uncomfortably close to some of the jagged glass. She turned her head to look forward and saw Lalna, one hand holding hers and the other catching himself on a piece of metal framing. Nano let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and laughed, full of relief. She was sore and her head felt like it was spinning but she was okay. Lalna smiled widely, letting out a quick laugh of his own. He pulled her out, eventually getting her onto the ground. Once her feet touched the ground Nano let herself stumble into a sitting position, wiping the tears and rain off her face. Beside her Lalna put his hands in his coat pockets.

“Well. That was close.” He commented casually, his voice slightly hoarse.

Nano simply nodded, keeping her head in her hands as she breathed through the numb pain she felt all over. After a moment she peeked a look up at Lalna and saw him staring down at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

“You don’t look too good, you gonna survive?” He asked without a hint of concern.

“Ye...Yeah. I just really need to lay down.” She mumbled, words muffled by her hands.

He nodded, watching something behind her. Nano noticed the blood on his coat, lowering her hands to squint at him in the dark.

“Are you alright? Did the Naga hit you?” She tried to stand but a wave of dizziness hit her and she fell back down, her back screaming in protest.

Lalna just chuckled and shook his head, “No. It’s not mine.”

Nano ran a hand through her hair as she tried to process the statement but everything was starting to feel like way too much. Slowly, she laid back on the ground and let the cold rain hit her face. Everything felt like it was drowned in water. Her movements were slow and everything sounded weirdly distant and she was so tired.

“Lalna…You’re gonna have to carry me.” She mumbled quietly, trying to add a hint of humor to her voice.

All she got in response was a quiet chuckle. For a moment she watched how the purple glow above her reflected off of everything before closing her eyes. Nano took a long slow breath and leaned into the exhaustion she felt, passing out.


	3. Only Some Mild Side Effects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nano wakes up and talks to Lalna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me; says idk how often i'll update  
> also me; updates 2 days in a row

Nano shifted as a loud, annoying noise woke her. It was a high pitched beeping, repeating in a consistent pattern. Nano slowly dragged her arms up to cover her ears, the movement feeling sluggish and delayed. She laid like that for a couple of moments but the sound wasn’t muted much by her makeshift attempt. She let her hands slide off the side of her face and fall gently onto the bed under her.

Wait, bed?

Nano opened her eyes and blinked as light blinded her momentarily. She eventually recognized the room as Lalna’s lab, at least a corner of it, but it was relentlessly bright in a way that made her head spin. With a gentle click the lights turned off and her eyes adjusted to the new, more bearable, darkness.

“Hey.” Lalna appeared at the foot of her bed, voice quiet.

“H...Hey.” She replied, her voice almost getting caught in her throat.

Nano rolled her head to the side to look around her. Right beside her was a monitor that showed her heart rate and other vitals, it was the source of the beeping. On her left was some medical dividers, cutting off the rest of the room from view. She followed the wires and tubes coming from the monitor to her right arm, shifting uncomfortably. Lalna followed her gaze and laughed.

“Are you going to try and pull them out again?” He asked, eyeing the expression on her face. “I can promise it’ll be about as unpleasant as the first time.”

“Wha..What?” Nano blinked as the fog in her head cleared out.

Lalna gave her an odd look before gently clapping his hands together with a look of realization.

“Oh! Yeah, you probably don’t remember. You, uh, woke up a couple of hours after I got you hooked up and settled. You were still pretty out of it and you pulled the wires out of your arm trying to get out of bed.” Lalna turned away as his voice got a little quieter. “Man, I ran in here so fast you nearly fell on the floor.”

Nano watched Lalna as he stood there, hands awkwardly ringing together, and took in how he looked. The simple answer would probably be ‘bad’, as she looked at the bags under his eyes and the tired look his face settled into. She also noticed he wasn’t wearing his coat, instead sporting a simple green sweater. She found herself chuckling. Lalna turned back to her and offered his own halfhearted smile.

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy. That was about…” He trailed off, looking at the device on his arm. “...four? Days ago. Mm, about four.”

“I was out for four days? Feels like way longer.” Nano pushed herself up to sit against her pillows, her back aching softly as she moved.

“I’m surprised your awake. I mean, between your little concussion and some messed up bones I figured you’d be out for awhile.” Lalna’s tone changed, some humor leaking in. “I guess I’m just an amazing doctor.”

“Yep, a real hero. Saved my life and everything.” Nano agreed, leaning her head back.

Lalna chuckled, “Wouldn’t go that far, it was mostly luck.”

Lalna stepped away from the bed, moving a curtain that blocked off the rest of the room from view. The room was pleasantly dark beside the light coming from various machines littered around. Not far from where her bed was, basically on the other side of the curtain to her left, was a desk that had papers littered over the top. Lalna went and grabbed his chair, rolling it over.

“Well, now that you’re properly awake we need to talk about what happened.” He said as he sat down. “Let’s start with the basics. What hurts, how much?”

Nano shifted slightly in the bed, gauging how everything felt.

“Uh, my head is still swimming a little bit, plus the lights really hurt my eyes? That’s the concussion, I assume. More importantly, the part of my back where the Naga hit me is still really sore.” Nano started. 

“Anything numbness? Tingling?” Lalna cut in, leaning forward.

“Um...kinda? My arms and everything feel really slow? Like...I’m trying to move but it takes an extra second for it to actually process and happen.” Nano explained, trying to find a way to put it. “I guess it all feels a little numb right now.”

Lalna nodded and chuckled nervously, “Okay...So, bad news, you may have a minor spine fracture.”

“What!?”

“Now, I’m not sure right now because I can’t tell what the concussion is causing and what’s a direct side effect of the hit on your back.” Lalna explained, holding his hands up defensively. “But it may cause some permanent side effects. Nothing too awful just some numbness in your back, maybe the occasion muscle spasm.”

Nano hands twitched as she resisted the urge to ball them into fists. Lalna shifted under her gaze, eventually looking away. He stared intently at the floor with his arms crossed. Nano took a deep breath and sighed.

“Okay, okay...You know what? It could of been way worse so I’ll just be thankful that you stopped me from flying into the flux.” She reasoned, pushing her negative feelings down.

From where he was sitting Lalna’s head snapped up, confusion evident on his face.

“Wait, what?”

“You’re only getting a pass because you saved me, if you hadn’t grabbed me who knew what would've happened.” She elaborated, crossing her arms to mimic his.

For a brief moment Lalna just stared at her before smiling and laughing.

“Yeah, right, of course. Like I said, mostly luck.” He babbled slightly, standing up from his chair.

“Where are you going?” Nano asked as he pushed his chair back to his desk, standing with his hands pressed into the top of it.

“I figured I should head out, check on the Naga damage and clean up some more. Besides, your probably sick of me being around already.” He joked, smiling at her.

She stared at him in silence and he turned away, tucking his hands into his pants pockets. He hovered by his desk for a moment, as if considering something, before turning back to her.

“Glad you're alright.”

She smiled slightly and nodded. Content with that, Lalna turned and left the lab with the door closing quietly behind him. She let her smile dropped, sinking back into the bed to stare at the ceiling. Nano wasn’t sure how she felt, other than tired. If Lalna hadn’t been there she would of gotten into the flux, gotten infected. She tossed that thought around for a while. What would of happened then? It wasn’t really a scenario she wanted to mentally play out. She turned her head to watch her heart beat on the monitor, the beeping persistent in the quiet room. But she was fine, no harm done. Almost.

Nano sat alone and continued to think.

\- - - - -

Meanwhile, in a small desert camp a man stood in a watch tower. Despite the heat he was shrouded in robes, only his eyes visible. Behind him a friend opened the trapdoor to the tower, climbing up. She handed him a cup of hot coffee as the sun rose.

“Did you sleep at all?” She asked, her tone light and playful. “Or did the scary purple light keep you up?”

He simply grumbled in response, taking the coffee and drinking it slowly. He pulled his hood down, shaking his head slightly to loosen his flattened hair.

“It’s still going, not quite as strong as last night.” He replied, voice reserved.

“Aw, that’s a shame. I was hoping it would stop so you would actually sleep.” She joked, taking a sip of her own coffee.

“I think something happened over there. Based on where it was it had to be his castle.” His tone wasn’t nearly as warm as hers. “He might be up to something.”

She frowned, watching him for a moment before looking to where the purple light appeared. They stood there drinking their coffee in silence, then he set his mug on the railing. He picked his bag up off the ground and raised his hood again. She glanced at him, trying to read the expression on his face.

“I’m going.” He stated quietly, not looking at her.

“Okay.” She replied in a gentle tone. “See ya soon Ryth.”


	4. Two Weeks Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what happened and the side effects, Nano considers her options and ultimately decides she needs her own place to live. Away from the flux and, by extension, Lalna.

Nano spent most of the next week in bed. After a couple of days Lalna unhooked her from the monitor. They talked occasionally but Lalna spent a lot of his time ‘working and cleaning up’, as he told her. So, she spent most of her days alone in the lab. A plus about being temporarily bedridden was having a lot of time to consider her options. She couldn't stop thinking about that night, and the more she thought about it the more she realized how close of a call it really was. The idea of the flux, swirling and existing, just above where she slept was starting to freak her out. Plus, the few times she'd tried to talk to Lalna about what had happened in more detail he was always vague, never really answering her questions. Lalna from that night kept sticking out to her like a sore thumb, little inconsistencies picking away at Nano's peace of mind. She felt like a conspiracy theorist, her mind supplying her with endless wild explanations in a desperate attempt to make what happened more bearable to swallow. One idea was that in her disorientation she simply never noticed Lalna get close to her until he grabbed her, another she considered briefly was that Lalna had a secret sibling or robot or something that happened to help her in her time of need. Nano ran her hands over her face and shook her head, as if she was trying to shake the stupid ideas out of her head. At the end of it all, Nano had to accept that she hadn't even been here for four weeks and she already came close to a huge accident. As much as she enjoyed hanging out with Lalna and working as his apprentice,  she didn’t feel like she could stay so close to the flux. Nano spent a good chunk of her week trying to decide what to do. She couldn't just ditch Lalna, she didn't really have anywhere else to go, but she didn't want to just go back to how it was before the accident. She wanted to be more cautious then that. Ultimately, she decided she would just make her own place to stay nearby and would keep working with Lalna. Just...not so close to everything.

Now, actually talking to Lalna about this was another issue entirely.

Nano stared up at the ceiling, twiddling her thumbs as she thought about what to do. She had to find him, clearly, since she didn’t expect Lalna to come down for a chat anytime soon. She let out a long sigh and pushed herself up into a sitting position, turning to swing her legs over the side of the bed. She’d gotten up before, walking around the lab, but Lalna insisted she stay put and rest more. Completely ignoring that, she stood and walked out of the lab. Her back no longer felt sore like it had but she still felt tired and off, shuffling her way down the hall in her tank top and sleep pants that Lalna had lent her.

Eventually she found him sitting in the kitchen, scribbling something down in a notebook while nursing a cup of tea. He was wearing the same green sweater as before, a look of concentration on his face. When she shuffled into the room his head snapped up and he jumped up in surprise.

“Nano-! Ow-” He cut himself off as he spilled his tea on himself, staining whatever he was writing. “What are you doing?”

She waved a hand dismissively, making her way over to the chair across from Lalna and sliding into it with a sigh. Lalna eyed her and sat back down, pushing the notebook out of the way.

“Hey.” She said quietly.

“Uh, hey.” He mimicked her awkwardly.

“We need to talk.” She started firmly.

Lalna shifted in his seat, not making eye contact as he crossed his arms, “Oh?”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and…” She trailed off for a moment, figuring out how to word her thoughts. “I don’t feel safe, Lalna.”

He chuckled and shrugged, “Not surprising, I don’t really follow your average safety protocols.”

“No, I don’t mean you with your gadgets. I mean the flux.”

“Pfft, the flux? The flux is fine, Nano. I fixed it up and it’s not even a problem!” Lalna sank back into his chair. “Nothing to worry about.”

Nano frowned, tapping the table absently. He was getting defensive.

“Still, I think I’m gonna move out of the castle and have my own little place nearby. I'll still be around, I'm just not gonna be sleeping in the tower every night. I mean, I’m still new to this you know?” She added jokingly, “Don’t want me blowing anything up, right?”

“Yeah, last thing I want for you to drop the wrong thing, bump something, and then boosh~” Lalna mimicked an explosion with his hands, dropping them on the table with a 'thump'. “Might be for the best in that case.”

Lalna pushed himself up to stand, grabbing his notebook and giving it a small shake as tea dripped off of it.

“Okay, so, where do you want to be set up? The field nearby would probably be a good place to set up. Hm...I could probably get something set up for you in a couple days.” Lalna started to think out loud as he tucked his pen behind his ears. “Shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Uh, I’ll let you take care of it.” Nano watched him pace as he talked, slightly amused. “Just make sure you don’t give me some tiny little shack.”

“I’m building you a house, you don’t get to be picky.” Lalna stopped and pointed at her, trying to sound stern.

“I’ll only be picky if you make me a shitty house.” She quipped back.

Lalna rolled his eyes while Nano got up and set his abandoned cup in the sink before joining him at his side. She leaned to peek at the notebook in his hands.

“Soooo, what were you doing before I came in? Writing anything interesting? Some secret romance novel perhaps?” Nano attempted to grab the book but Lalna held it above her head, using his extra foot on her to his advantage.

“Doesn’t really matter now, it got all ruined.” Lalna mumbled, shaking the book so drops of tea fell on her head.

“Hey!” Nano cried out, punching him in the shoulder.

Lalna laughed and rubbed his arm. He watched as Nano lowered her hand, his smile dropping as he saw her expression change. When he followed her gaze he saw how her hand was twitching, convulsing as she lowered it to her side. The two stood in silence for a moment, Lalna biting his lip before gently tapping Nano’s arm with the notebook.

“I’m gonna go start on that little hut for you.” He spoke quietly with a smile, walking out of the room.

Nano watched him leave before quietly going to sit back at the table, running a thumb over the back of her still twitching hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would work out fine, she was sure, once she moved out and got some space from Lalna and the castle. She wouldn't be stuck sleeping in a lab, the flux hanging over her. Nano let out a airy chuckle as she brought her hands up to cover her face. She was fine. She was just still so tired.

Nano laid her head down on the table and embraced the quiet.


End file.
